Navigation device and method for dealing with limited access roads

ABSTRACT

A method and device are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the method includes determining a route of travel, in a navigation device, based upon at least a received destination location; determining whether or not the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road; and prompting a user of the navigation device to either accept the determined route of travel or request an alternate route of travel, upon determining that the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road. The navigation device, in at least one embodiment, includes a processor to determine a route of travel based upon at least a received destination location and to determine whether or not the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road; and an integrated input and display device to prompt a user of the navigation device to either accept the determined route of travel or request an alternate route of travel, upon the processor determining that the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road.

PRIORITY STATEMENT

The present application hereby claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e)on each of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60/879,523 filedJan. 10, 2007, 60/879,549 filed Jan. 10, 2007, 60/879,553 filed Jan. 10,2007, 60/879,577 filed Jan. 10, 2007, 60/879,599 filed Jan. 10, 2007,60/879,529 filed Jan. 10, 2007, 60/879,601 filed Jan. 10, 2007, theentire contents of each of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

The following applications are being filed concurrently with the presentapplication. The entire contents of each of the following applicationsis hereby incorporated herein by reference: A NAVIGATION DEVICE ANDMETHOD FOR EARLY INSTRUCTION OUTPUT (Attorney docket number 06P207US01)filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FORESTABLISHING AND USING PROFILES (Attorney docket number 06P207US02)filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ENHANCEDMAP DISPLAY (Attorney docket number 06P207US03) filed on even dateherewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD RELATING TO AN AUDIBLERECOGNITION MODE (Attorney docket number 06P207US04) filed on even dateherewith; NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING POINTS OF INTEREST(Attorney docket number 06P207US05) filed on even date herewith; ANAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FUEL PRICING DISPLAY (Attorney docketnumber 06P057US06) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE ANDMETHOD FOR INFORMATIONAL SCREEN DISPLAY (Attorney docket number06P207US06) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHODFOR TRAVEL WARNINGS (Attorney docket number 06P057US07) filed on evendate herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DRIVING BREAK WARNING(Attorney docket number 06P057US07) filed on even date herewith; ANAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ISSUING WARNINGS (Attorney docketnumber 06P207US07) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE ANDMETHOD FOR DISPLAY OF POSITION IN TEXT READIBLE FORM (Attorney docketnumber 06P207US08) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE ANDMETHOD FOR EMERGENCY SERVICE ACCESS (Attorney docket number 06P057US08)filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FORPROVIDING docket number 06P207US09) filed on even date herewith; ANAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR USING SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN ANAVIGATION DEVICE (Attorney docket number 06P207US09) filed on even dateherewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD USING A PERSONAL AREA NETWORK(Attorney docket number 06P207US10) filed on even date herewith; ANAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD USING A LOCATION MESSAGE (Attorney docketnumber 06P207US10) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE ANDMETHOD FOR CONSERVING POWER (Attorney docket number 06P207US11) filed oneven date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR USING A TRAFFICMESSAGE CHANNEL (Attorney docket number 06P207US13) filed on even dateherewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR USING A TRAFFIC MESSAGECHANNEL RESOURCE (Attorney docket number 06P207US13) filed on even dateherewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR QUICK OPTION ACCESS(Attorney docket number 06P207US15) filed on even date herewith; and ANAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING A RICH CONTENT DOCUMENT(Attorney docket number 06P207US27) filed on even date herewith.

FIELD

The present application generally relates to navigation methods anddevices.

BACKGROUND

Navigation devices were traditionally utilized mainly in the areas ofvehicle use, such as on cars, motorcycles, trucks, boats, etc.Alternatively, if such navigation devices were portable, they werefurther transferable between vehicles and/or useable outside thevehicle, for foot travel for example.

These devices are typically tailored to produce a route of travel basedupon an initial position of the navigation device and a selected/inputtravel destination (end position), noting that the initial positioncould be entered into the device, but is traditionally calculated viaGPS Positioning from a GPS receiver within the navigation device.Calculation of the route of travel is achieved in a known fashion,noting that options exist to utilize primarily highways for example.However, these options are limited at the present time.

SUMMARY

The inventors have discovered that certain roads exist which may presentproblems to a user using the navigation device. These roads includelimited access roads such as a road including at least one lane for highoccupancy vehicles (HOV) and an unpaved road, for example. These roadsmay be unsuitable or undesirable for a particular type of vehicle (suchas an unpaved road for a luxury car for example) or may be unsuitable orundesirable as a user does not meet criteria to travel on the road (suchas a road including at least one lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV)for a user traveling alone is a vehicle). Thus, the inventors havediscovered that a user may want to be alerted if these roads exist on adetermined route of travel and/or warned if traveling along a route oftravel including such roads.

In at least one embodiment of the present application, a method includesdetermining a route of travel, in a navigation device, based upon atleast a received destination location; determining whether or not thedetermined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road; andprompting a user of the navigation device to either accept thedetermined route of travel or request an alternate route of travel, upondetermining that the determined route of travel includes travel on alimited access road.

In at least one embodiment of the present application, a navigationdevice includes means for determining a route of travel based upon atleast a received destination location and for determining whether or notthe determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road;and means for prompting a user of the navigation device to either acceptthe determined route of travel or request an alternate route of travel,upon the means for determining that the determined route of travelincludes travel on a limited access road.

In at least one embodiment of the present application, a navigationdevice includes a processor to determine a route of travel based upon atleast a received destination location and to determine whether or notthe determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road;and an integrated input and display device to prompt a user of thenavigation device to either accept the determined route of travel orrequest an alternate route of travel, upon the processor determiningthat the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited accessroad.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present application will be described in more detail below by usingexample embodiments, which will be explained with the aid of thedrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example view of a Global Positioning System (GPS);

FIG. 2 illustrates an example block diagram of electronic components ofa navigation device of an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example block diagram of a server, navigationdevice and connection therebetween of an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views of an implementation of anembodiment of the navigation device 200;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram for an embodiment of thepresent application; and

FIGS. 6-8 illustrate example prompts to users regarding limited accessroads.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the presentinvention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“includes” and/or “including”, when used in this specification, specifythe presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

In describing example embodiments illustrated in the drawings, specificterminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the disclosureof this patent specification is not intended to be limited to thespecific terminology so selected and it is to be understood that eachspecific element includes all technical equivalents that operate in asimilar manner.

Referencing the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designateidentical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, exampleembodiments of the present patent application are hereafter described.Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. As used herein, the term“and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example view of Global Positioning System (GPS),usable by navigation devices, including the navigation device ofembodiments of the present application. Such systems are known and areused for a variety of purposes. In general, GPS is a satellite-radiobased navigation system capable of determining continuous position,velocity, time, and in some instances direction information for anunlimited number of users.

Formerly known as NAVSTAR, the GPS incorporates a plurality ofsatellites which work with the earth in extremely precise orbits. Basedon these precise orbits, GPS satellites can relay their location to anynumber of receiving units.

The GPS system is implemented when a device, specially equipped toreceive GPS data, begins scanning radio frequencies for GPS satellitesignals. Upon receiving a radio signal from a GPS satellite, the devicedetermines the precise location of that satellite via one of a pluralityof different conventional methods. The device will continue scanning, inmost instances, for signals until it has acquired at least threedifferent satellite signals (noting that position is not normally, butcan be determined, with only two signals using other triangulationtechniques). Implementing geometric triangulation, the receiver utilizesthe three known positions to determine its own two-dimensional positionrelative to the satellites. This can be done in a known manner.Additionally, acquiring a fourth satellite signal will allow thereceiving device to calculate its three dimensional position by the samegeometrical calculation in a known manner. The position and velocitydata can be updated in real time on a continuous basis by an unlimitednumber of users.

As shown in FIG. 1, the GPS system is denoted generally by referencenumeral 100. A plurality of satellites 120 are in orbit about the earth124. The orbit of each satellite 120 is not necessarily synchronous withthe orbits of other satellites 120 and, in fact, is likely asynchronous.A GPS receiver 140, usable in embodiments of navigation devices of thepresent application, is shown receiving spread spectrum GPS satellitesignals 160 from the various satellites 120.

The spread spectrum signals 160, continuously transmitted from eachsatellite 120, utilize a highly accurate frequency standard accomplishedwith an extremely accurate atomic clock. Each satellite 120, as part ofits data signal transmission 160, transmits a data stream indicative ofthat particular satellite 120. It is appreciated by those skilled in therelevant art that the GPS receiver device 140 generally acquires spreadspectrum GPS satellite signals 160 from at least three satellites 120for the GPS receiver device 140 to calculate its two-dimensionalposition by triangulation. Acquisition of an additional signal,resulting in signals 160 from a total of four satellites 120, permitsthe GPS receiver device 140 to calculate its three-dimensional positionin a known manner.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example block diagram of electronic components ofa navigation device 200 of an embodiment of the present application, inblock component format. It should be noted that the block diagram of thenavigation device 200 is not inclusive of all components of thenavigation device, but is only representative of many examplecomponents.

The navigation device 200 is located within a housing (not shown). Thehousing includes a processor 210 connected to an input device 220 and adisplay screen 240. The input device 220 can include a keyboard device,voice input device, touch panel and/or any other known input deviceutilized to input information; and the display screen 240 can includeany type of display screen such as an LCD display, for example. In atleast one embodiment of the present application, the input device 220and display screen 240 are integrated into an integrated input anddisplay device, including a touchpad or touchscreen input wherein a userneed only touch a portion of the display screen 240 to select one of aplurality of display choices or to activate one of a plurality ofvirtual buttons.

In addition, other types of output devices 241 can also include,including but not limited to, an audible output device. As output device241 can produce audible information to a user of the navigation device200, it is equally understood that input device 240 can also include amicrophone and software for receiving input voice commands as well.

In the navigation device 200, processor 210 is operatively connected toand set to receive input information from input device 240 via aconnection 225, and operatively connected to at least one of displayscreen 240 and output device 241, via output connections 245, to outputinformation thereto. Further, the processor 210 is operatively connectedto memory 230 via connection 235 and is further adapted to receive/sendinformation from/to input/output (I/O) ports 270 via connection 275,wherein the I/O port 270 is connectible to an I/O device 280 external tothe navigation device 200. The external I/O device 270 may include, butis not limited to an external listening device such as an earpiece forexample. The connection to I/O device 280 can further be a wired orwireless connection to any other external device such as a car stereounit for hands-free operation and/or for voice activated operation forexample, for connection to an ear piece or head phones, and/or forconnection to a mobile phone for example, wherein the mobile phoneconnection may be used to establish a data connection between thenavigation device 200 and the internet or any other network for example,and/or to establish a connection to a server via the internet or someother network for example.

The navigation device 200, in at least one embodiment, may establish a“mobile” network connection with the server 302 via a mobile device 400(such as a mobile phone, PDA, and/or any device with mobile phonetechnology) establishing a digital connection (such as a digitalconnection via known Bluetooth technology for example). Thereafter,through its network service provider, the mobile device 400 canestablish a network connection (through the internet for example) with aserver 302. As such, a “mobile” network connection is establishedbetween the navigation device 200 (which can be, and often times ismobile as it travels alone and/or in a vehicle) and the server 302 toprovide a “real-time” or at least very “up to date” gateway forinformation.

The establishing of the network connection between the mobile device 400(via a service provider) and another device such as the server 302,using the internet 410 for example, can be done in a known manner. Thiscan include use of TCP/IP layered protocol for example. The mobiledevice 400 can utilize any number of communication standards such asCDMA, GSM, WAN, etc.

As such, an internet connection may be utilized which is achieved viadata connection, via a mobile phone or mobile phone technology withinthe navigation device 200 for example. For this connection, an internetconnection between the server 302 and the navigation device 200 isestablished. This can be done, for example, through a mobile phone orother mobile device and a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)-connection(GPRS connection is a high-speed data connection for mobile devicesprovided by telecom operators; GPRS is a method to connect to theinternet.

The navigation device 200 can further complete a data connection withthe mobile device 400, and eventually with the internet 410 and server302, via existing Bluetooth technology for example, in a known manner,wherein the data protocol can utilize any number of standards, such asthe GSRM, the Data Protocol Standard for the GSM standard, for example.

The navigation device 200 may include its own mobile phone technologywithin the navigation device 200 itself (including an antenna forexample, wherein the internal antenna of the navigation device 200 canfurther alternatively be used). The mobile phone technology within thenavigation device 200 can include internal components as specifiedabove, and/or can include an insertable card, complete with necessarymobile phone technology and/or an antenna for example. As such, mobilephone technology within the navigation device 200 can similarlyestablish a network connection between the navigation device 200 and theserver 302, via the internet 410 for example, in a manner similar tothat of any mobile device 400.

For GRPS phone settings, the Bluetooth enabled device may be used tocorrectly work with the ever changing spectrum of mobile phone models,manufacturers, etc., model/manufacturer specific settings may be storedon the navigation device 200 for example. The data stored for thisinformation can be updated in a manner discussed in any of theembodiments, previous and subsequent.

FIG. 2 further illustrates an operative connection between the processor210 and an antenna/receiver 250 via connection 255, wherein theantenna/receiver 250 can be a GPS antenna/receiver for example. It willbe understood that the antenna and receiver designated by referencenumeral 250 are combined schematically for illustration, but that theantenna and receiver may be separately located components, and that theantenna may be a GPS patch antenna or helical antenna for example.

Further, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art thatthe electronic components shown in FIG. 2 are powered by power sources(not shown) in a conventional manner. As will be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art, different configurations of the componentsshown in FIG. 2 are considered within the scope of the presentapplication. For example, in one embodiment, the components shown inFIG. 2 may be in communication with one another via wired and/orwireless connections and the like. Thus, the scope of the navigationdevice 200 of the present application includes a portable or handheldnavigation device 200.

In addition, the portable or handheld navigation device 200 of FIG. 2can be connected or “docked” in a known manner to a motorized vehiclesuch as a car or boat for example. Such a navigation device 200 is thenremovable from the docked location for portable or handheld navigationuse.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example block diagram of a server 302 and anavigation device 200 of the present application, via a genericcommunications channel 318, of an embodiment of the present application.The server 302 and a navigation device 200 of the present applicationcan communicate when a connection via communications channel 318 isestablished between the server 302 and the navigation device 200 (notingthat such a connection can be a data connection via mobile device, adirect connection via personal computer via the internet, etc.).

The server 302 includes, in addition to other components which may notbe illustrated, a processor 304 operatively connected to a memory 306and further operatively connected, via a wired or wireless connection314, to a mass data storage device 312. The processor 304 is furtheroperatively connected to transmitter 308 and receiver 310, to transmitand send information to and from navigation device 200 viacommunications channel 318. The signals sent and received may includedata, communication, and/or other propagated signals. The transmitter308 and receiver 310 may be selected or designed according to thecommunications requirement and communication technology used in thecommunication design for the navigation system 200. Further, it shouldbe noted that the functions of transmitter 308 and receiver 310 may becombined into a signal transceiver.

Server 302 is further connected to (or includes) a mass storage device312, noting that the mass storage device 312 may be coupled to theserver 302 via communication link 314. The mass storage device 312contains a store of navigation data and map information, and can againbe a separate device from the server 302 or can be incorporated into theserver 302.

The navigation device 200 is adapted to communicate with the server 302through communications channel 318, and includes processor, memory, etc.as previously described with regard to FIG. 2, as well as transmitter320 and receiver 322 to send and receive signals and/or data through thecommunications channel 318, noting that these devices can further beused to communicate with devices other than server 302. Further, thetransmitter 320 and receiver 322 are selected or designed according tocommunication requirements and communication technology used in thecommunication design for the navigation device 200 and the functions ofthe transmitter 320 and receiver 322 may be combined into a singletransceiver.

Software stored in server memory 306 provides instructions for theprocessor 304 and allows the server 302 to provide services to thenavigation device 200. One service provided by the server 302 involvesprocessing requests from the navigation device 200 and transmittingnavigation data from the mass data storage 312 to the navigation device200. According to at least one embodiment of the present application,another service provided by the server 302 includes processing thenavigation data using various algorithms for a desired application andsending the results of these calculations to the navigation device 200.

The communication channel 318 generically represents the propagatingmedium or path that connects the navigation device 200 and the server302. According to at least one embodiment of the present application,both the server 302 and navigation device 200 include a transmitter fortransmitting data through the communication channel and a receiver forreceiving data that has been transmitted through the communicationchannel.

The communication channel 318 is not limited to a particularcommunication technology. Additionally, the communication channel 318 isnot limited to a single communication technology; that is, the channel318 may include several communication links that use a variety oftechnology. For example, according to at least one embodiment, thecommunication channel 318 can be adapted to provide a path forelectrical, optical, and/or electromagnetic communications, etc. Assuch, the communication channel 318 includes, but is not limited to, oneor a combination of the following: electric circuits, electricalconductors such as wires and coaxial cables, fiber optic cables,converters, radio-frequency (rf) waves, the atmosphere, empty space,etc. Furthermore, according to at least one various embodiment, thecommunication channel 318 can include intermediate devices such asrouters, repeaters, buffers, transmitters, and receivers, for example.

In at least one embodiment of the present application, for example, thecommunication channel 318 includes telephone and computer networks.Furthermore, in at least one embodiment, the communication channel 318may be capable of accommodating wireless communication such as radiofrequency, microwave frequency, infrared communication, etc.Additionally, according to at least one embodiment, the communicationchannel 318 can accommodate satellite communication.

The communication signals transmitted through the communication channel318 include, but are not limited to, signals as may be required ordesired for given communication technology. For example, the signals maybe adapted to be used in cellular communication technology such as TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access(FDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), etc. Both digital and analogue signals can betransmitted through the communication channel 318. According to at leastone embodiment, these signals may be modulated, encrypted and/orcompressed signals as may be desirable for the communication technology.

The mass data storage 312 includes sufficient memory for the desirednavigation applications. Examples of the mass data storage 312 mayinclude magnetic data storage media such as hard drives for example,optical storage media such as CD-Roms for example, charged data storagemedia such as flash memory for example, molecular memory, etc.

According to at least one embodiment of the present application, theserver 302 includes a remote server accessible by the navigation device200 via a wireless channel. According to at least one other embodimentof the application, the server 302 may include a network server locatedon a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual privatenetwork (VPN), etc.

According to at least one embodiment of the present application, theserver 302 may include a personal computer such as a desktop or laptopcomputer, and the communication channel 318 may be a cable connectedbetween the personal computer and the navigation device 200.Alternatively, a personal computer may be connected between thenavigation device 200 and the server 302 to establish an internetconnection between the server 302 and the navigation device 200.Alternatively, a mobile telephone or other handheld device may establisha wireless connection to the internet, for connecting the navigationdevice 200 to the server 302 via the internet.

The navigation device 200 may be provided with information from theserver 302 via information downloads which may be periodically updatedupon a user connecting navigation device 200 to the server 302 and/ormay be more dynamic upon a more constant or frequent connection beingmade between the server 302 and navigation device 200 via a wirelessmobile connection device and TCP/IP connection for example. For manydynamic calculations, the processor 304 in the server 302 may be used tohandle the bulk of the processing needs; however, processor 210 ofnavigation device 200 can also handle much processing and calculation,oftentimes independent of a connection to a server 302.

The mass storage device 312 connected to the server 302 can includevolumes more cartographic and route data than that which is able to bemaintained on the navigation device 200 itself, including maps, etc. Theserver 302 may process, for example, the majority of the devices of anavigation device 200 which travel along the route using a set ofprocessing algorithms. Further, the cartographic and route data storedin memory 312 can operate on signals (e.g. GPS signals), originallyreceived by the navigation device 200.

A navigation device 200 of an embodiment of the present applicationincludes a processor 210 and an integrated input and display device,integrating the input device 220 and display screen 240 of thenavigation device 200, and including a touchscreen input wherein a userneed only touch a portion of the display screen 240 to select one of aplurality of display choices or to activate one of a plurality ofdisplayed virtual buttons. In the navigation device 200 of an embodimentof the present application, the processor 210 is used to determine aroute of travel based upon at least a received destination location(input by a user for example, in planning a route) and to determinewhether or not the determined route of travel includes travel on alimited access road (such as a road including at least one highoccupancy vehicle (HOV) lane, an unpaved road, etc.); and an integratedinput and display device to prompt a user of the navigation device 200to either accept the determined route of travel or request an alternateroute of travel, upon the processor 210 determining that the determinedroute of travel includes travel on a limited access road.

As indicated above in FIG. 2 of the application, a navigation device 200of an embodiment of the present application includes a processor 210, aninput device 220, and a display screen 240. In at least one embodiment,the input device 220 and display screen 240 are integrated into anintegrated input and display device to enable both input of information(via direct input, menu selection, etc.) and display of informationthrough a touch panel screen, for example. Such a screen may be a touchinput LCD screen, for example, as is well known to those of ordinaryskill in the art. Further, the navigation device 200 can also includeany additional input device 220 and/or any additional output device 241,such as audio input/output devices for example.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views of an implementation of anembodiment of the navigation device 200. As shown in FIG. 4A, thenavigation device 200 may be a unit that includes an integrated inputand display device 290 (a touch panel screen for example) and the othercomponents of FIG. 2 (including but not limited to internal GPS receiver250, microprocessor 210, a power supply, memory systems 220, etc.).

The navigation device 200 may sit on an arm 292, which itself may besecured to a vehicle dashboard/window/etc. using a large suction cup294. This arm 292 is one example of a docking station to which thenavigation device 200 can be docked.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the navigation device 200 can be docked orotherwise connected to an arm 292 of the docking station by snapconnecting the navigation device 292 to the arm 292 for example (this isonly one example, as other known alternatives for connection to adocking station are within the scope of the present application). Thenavigation device 200 may then be rotatable on the arm 292, as shown bythe arrow of FIG. 4B. To release the connection between the navigationdevice 200 and the docking station, a button on the navigation device200 may be pressed, for example (this is only one example, as otherknown alternatives for disconnection to a docking station are within thescope of the present application).

The inventors have discovered that certain roads exist which may presentproblems to a user using the navigation device. These roads includelimited access roads such as a road including at least one lane for highoccupancy vehicles (HOV) and an unpaved road, for example. These roadsmay be unsuitable or undesirable for a particular type of vehicle (suchas an unpaved road for a luxury car for example) or may be unsuitable orundesirable as a user does not meet criteria to travel on the road (suchas a road including at least one lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV)for a user traveling alone is a vehicle). Thus, the inventors havediscovered that a user may want to be alerted if these roads exist on adetermined route of travel and/or warned if traveling along a route oftravel including such roads.

In at least one embodiment of the present application, a method includesdetermining a route of travel, in a navigation device 200, based upon atleast a received destination location; determining whether or not thedetermined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road; andprompting a user of the navigation device 200 to either accept thedetermined route of travel or request an alternate route of travel, upondetermining that the determined route of travel includes travel on alimited access road.

In at least one embodiment of the present application, a navigationdevice 200 includes a processor 210 to determine a route of travel basedupon at least a received destination location and to determine whetheror not the determined route of travel includes travel on a limitedaccess road; and an integrated input and display device 290 to prompt auser of the navigation device 200 to either accept the determined routeof travel or request an alternate route of travel, upon the processor210 determining that the determined route of travel includes travel on alimited access road.

As shown in an example embodiment of FIG. 5 of the present application,a method of at least one embodiment of the present application may firstinclude step S2 of receiving input (S) to determine route of travel.These inputs can include, for example, an input or selected destinationlocation or endpoint input or selected by a user through the integratedinput and display device 290 for example, as well as other inputs suchas a GPS signal location of the navigation device 200 itself,establishing an initial point of travel for calculating the route.Thereafter, in step S4, the route of travel is determined, by processor210 for example, utilizing the received travel destination, the GSPsignal indicative of a current location of the navigation device 200,and map information stored in the memory 230.

Instead of merely accepting a determined route of travel, the route oftravel is examined in step S6, by processor 210 for example, todetermine if it includes travel on a limited access road, such as a roadincluding at least one lane requiring a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV),commonly known as HOV lanes, and/or at least one unpaved road. This canbe concurrent with the establishing of the route, or subsequent thereto.

For example, after the route of travel has been calculated by processor210, the processor 210 can check all segments of the route, to see ifany of them fall within one including a limited access road to beavoided. The route segments of the determined route of travel mayinclude certain flags in the data, for example, that indicate whether ornot they at least partly include at least one HOV lane, unpaved road, orother limited access road. Each segment of the travel route may beretrieved from memory 230, for the processor 210 to determine of any ofthese flags exist for any segments that are part of the determined routeof travel.

Other limited access roads are also included within the scope of thepresent application, noting that such roads can be initially flagged orotherwise marked on map information stored in memory 230 for example,such that, when they are included in a determined route of travel, theflags can be easily detectable by processor 210 when determining theroute of travel. Other ways of determining whether or not a route oftravel includes travel on a limited access road are also within thescope of the present invention.

Thereafter, if the route of travel is determined not to include travelon a limited access road, the navigation route calculated is then storedand used for further navigation by the user in Step S30. Namely, if theroute of travel does not include travel on a limited access road, theroute will be acceptable to the user and can be used. Of course, if theuser decides for some reason that he wishes to vary the route, the routeof travel may be varied for any other reason in another manner.

If, in step S6, the processor 210 determines that the route of traveldoes include travel on a limited access road, the method proceeds tostep S8. In step S8, the user is prompted to either accept thedetermined route of travel including travel on a limited access road, orrequest an alternate route of travel. Thereafter, the method may move tostep S10, wherein it is questioned whether or not the user requestsdetermination of an alternative route. If not, the user can use thedetermined route for navigation as explained above, noting that a usermay also be able to enable warnings, or such warnings may be enabledautomatically, in at least one embodiment of the present application,and subsequently output in step S28 as will be explained later.

Accordingly, if the user does request determination of an alternateroute of travel, the processor 210 of the navigation device 200 willattempt to determine an alternative route of travel in step S12,avoiding the limited access road(s). This can be done by the processor210 setting properties to avoid the limited access road(s), such as toavoid flags in any of the segments of the route, corresponding tolimited access roads, for example. During these attempts to determine anew route, the processor 210 may find that an alternative route is notpossible, namely that it may not be possible to avoid the limited accessroad(s) during travel to the desired destination location. Thus, in stepS14, the processor 210 determines if an alternative route is possible.If so, in step S16, an alternative route of travel is determined as usedfor navigation in step S16.

If the processor 210 determines that it is not possible to calculate aroute which avoids the limited access road(s), the processor 210maintains the previously determined route in memory 230 and the user isprompted in step S18 to accept the determined route of travel includingtravel on the limited access road, namely the originally determinedroute including limited access road travel. Thereafter, in step S20, itis determined, by processor 210 for example, whether or not the useraccepts the determined route of travel, including travel on the limitedaccess road upon the processor 210 failing to determine an alternativeroute of travel, namely whether or not the user accepts the originallydetermined route. If not, in step S22, the process ends as it has beendetermined that it is not possible to reach the destination locationfrom the current location of the navigation device 200, withoutincluding travel on a limited access road. However, if the user acceptsthe determined route including limited access road travel, or if theprocess is set such that the user has no choice but to accept thedetermined route of travel including travel on the limited access road,the route can be used for navigation in step S30.

If the user does accept a route including travel on a limited accessroad, based upon a decision not to request determination of analternative route in step S10 or based upon a determination to acceptthe originally determined route upon a determination being made that analternative route is not possible in step S20 (or based upon a userbeing given no choice in step S18 wherein the user must accept thedetermined route of travel including travel on the limited access road,an embodiment of the present application may involve warning the user ofan approaching limited access road. Thus, the process may move from stepS10 or step S20 (or S18) to Step S24, wherein the user of the navigationdevice 200 may either be prompted to enable a warning, or wherein awarning may be automatically enabled. Automatic enablement of thewarning can be based upon an initially input user preference wherein auser initially agrees to be warned anytime a limited access road isincluded in a planned route of travel, for example. Alternatively, aprompt may be displayed on the integrated input and display device 290of the navigation device 200, prompting the user to enable output ofsuch a warning.

Thereafter, in step S26, the processor 210 determines whether or not thewarning has been enabled either upon receipt of an indication that theuser enables the warning or based upon an automatic enablement of thewarning.

If the warning is not enabled, the warning will not be displayed duringtravel along the route, and the method merely proceeds to step S30wherein the route determined is used for navigation. However, if thewarning is enabled, the method proceeds to step S28, to make a note tooutput a warning relating to the limited access road upon (the processor210 for example) determining, within the navigation device 200, that atleast one parameter governing output of the warning is met. For example,if the location of the limited access road is known, the at least oneparameter may include at least one of a time parameter and a distanceparameter, noting that when the processor 210 determines that thenavigation device 200 is within a threshold time period of the limitedaccess road or within a threshold distance of the limited access road,the warning may be output.

It should be noted that the prompting mentioned during the steps of FIG.5 may be done via visual output on the integrated input and displaydevice 290 of the navigation device 200 for example, wherein receipt ofan indication that the user accepts something or enables something maybe done via input through the integrated input and display device 290for example. Additionally, the outputting of the warning may includevisual output on the integrated input and display device 290 and/oraudible output of a warning to the user.

As discussed above, the limited access road may be designated in anumber of different ways, including the use of flags or other marking ofthe stored map information for example, so that the processor 210 maydetermine whether or not a determined route of travel includes travel ona limited access road. Further, the limited access roads can include,but are not limited to, a road including at least one high occupancyvehicle (HOV) lane (wherein only vehicles including a high occupancy ofpassengers can travel thereon, e.g. four passengers in an HOV-4 lane,three passengers in an HOV-3 lane, etc., wherein entire roads may bedesignated HOV roads), an unpaved road, etc.

For example, if in step S6 of FIG. 5 the processor 210 determines thatthe determined route will include travel on a limited access road, theprompt in step S8, displayable in an integrated input and display device290 of the navigation device 200 for example, can be that of prompting auser to either accept a calculated route or request an alternative routeas shown in FIG. 6 for example. FIG. 6 relates to a prompt subsequent toa determination that a route includes travel on an unpaved road.

The prompt in the example shown in FIG. 6 may be displayed to the userand can indicate to the user that at least one unpaved road exists alongthe determined route of travel. The user may be notified by a statementsuch as “The current route includes unpaved roads. Would you like toavoid those or continue?” While this is only an example statement, itdoes provide an example of one which provides the user with anindication that a limited access road exists on the determined route oftravel, and it does provide an example of a request to the user, ofwhether or not the user would like the processor 210 to attempt todetermine an alternative route, namely by avoiding the unpaved roads, orcontinue, namely accept the fact that the route includes unpaved roads.The display on the integrated input and display device 290 of thenavigation device 200 may therefore include selectable virtual keys orbuttons indicating a choice between accepting a determined route (the“continue” button as shown in FIG. 6 for example) or requestingdetermination of an alternative route (the “avoid” button shown in FIG.6).

Thereafter, if the user chooses to avoid the unpaved roads of FIG. 6,attempts can be made by the processor 210 to determine an alternativeroute. However, if there are no other routes possible to reach thedestination location, a prompt such as that shown in FIG. 7 may bedisplayed. The prompt of FIG. 7 indicates that at least one unpaved roadexists on the route and that there is no other way to reach thedestination. As such, the user may be presented with a single virtualbutton such as the “Continue” button of FIG. 7, wherein the user canaccept the route including the unpaved roads. Alternatively, the usercan be provided with a second virtual button to merely end the processsuch as that done in step S22 of the present application. Again, FIGS. 6and 7 are merely example screens which can be displayed to the user.

As indicated above, the limited access road can also include any roadincluding at least one HOV lane. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 8, upondetermining that a route of travel includes travel on a road includingat least one HOV late in step S6 of FIG. 5, the screen shown in FIG. 8may be displayed to a user on an integrated input and display device 290of a navigation device 200 for example. As shown in FIG. 8, the screenindicates that the route of travel includes the use of HOV lanes. Asshown in FIG. 8, the prompt merely includes two yes and no virtualbuttons, for the user to indicate whether or not the user wants to avoidthe HOV lanes. If so, an alternative route can be determined by theprocessor 210 which avoids use of roads including at least one HOV lane.If not, the user can accept the original route.

In either case, with regard to roads including at least one HOV lane orunpaved roads, or for any other limited access roads, if a route isaccepted which includes a limited access road, a warning may either beautomatically enabled, or user may be prompted to enable a warningautomatically as previously discussed in FIG. 5 of the presentapplication.

It should be noted that each of the aforementioned aspects of anembodiment of the present application have been described with regard tothe method of the present application. Accordingly, in at least oneadditional embodiment of the present application, a navigation device200 may include a processor 210 to determine a route of travel basedupon at least a received destination location and to determine whetheror not the determined route of travel includes travel on a limitedaccess road. A navigation device 200 further includes an integratedinput and display device 290 to prompt a user of the navigation device200 to either accept the determined route of travel or request analternative route of travel, upon a processor 210 determining that thedetermined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road.Such a navigation device 200, including the processor 210 and integratedinput and display device 290 thereof, can perform the various steps ofthe method shown in FIG. 5 of the present application for example. Sucha navigation device 200 includes a processor 210 to enable optionsand/or to enable display, upon receipt of an indication of selections.Thus, such a navigation device 200 may be used to perform the variousaspects of the method described with regard to FIGS. 5-8, as would beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, furtherexplanation is omitted for the sake of brevity.

The methods of at least one embodiment expressed above may beimplemented as a computer data signal embodied in the carrier wave orpropagated signal that represents a sequence of instructions which, whenexecuted by a processor (such as processor 304 of server 302, and/orprocessor 210 of navigation device 200 for example) causes the processorto perform a respective method. In at least one other embodiment, atleast one method provided above may be implemented above as a set ofinstructions contained on a computer readable or computer accessiblemedium, such as one of the memory devices previously described, forexample, to perform the respective method when executed by a processoror other computer device. In varying embodiments, the medium may be amagnetic medium, electronic medium, optical medium, etc.

Even further, any of the aforementioned methods may be embodied in theform of a program. The program may be stored on a computer readablemedia and is adapted to perform any one of the aforementioned methodswhen run on a computer device (a device including a processor). Thus,the storage medium or computer readable medium, is adapted to storeinformation and is adapted to interact with a data processing facilityor computer device to perform the method of any of the above mentionedembodiments.

The storage medium may be a built-in medium installed inside a computerdevice main body or a removable medium arranged so that it can beseparated from the computer device main body. Examples of the built-inmedium include, but are not limited to, rewriteable non-volatilememories, such as ROMs and flash memories, and hard disks. Examples ofthe removable medium include, but are not limited to, optical storagemedia such as CD-ROMs and DVDs; magneto-optical storage media, such asMOs; magnetism storage media, including but not limited to floppy disks(trademark), cassette tapes, and removable hard disks; media with abuilt-in rewriteable non-volatile memory, including but not limited tomemory cards; and media with a built-in ROM, including but not limitedto ROM cassettes; etc. Furthermore, various information regarding storedimages, for example, property information, may be stored in any otherform, or it may be provided in other ways.

As one of ordinary skill in the art will understand upon reading thedisclosure, the electronic components of the navigation device 200and/or the components of the server 302 can be embodied as computerhardware circuitry or as a computer readable program, or as acombination of both.

The system and method of embodiments of the present application includesoftware operative on the processor to perform at least one of themethods according to the teachings of the present application. One ofordinary skill in the art will understand, upon reading andcomprehending this disclosure, the manner in which a software programcan be launched from a computer readable medium in a computer basedsystem to execute the functions found in the software program. One ofordinary skill in the art will further understand the variousprogramming languages which may be employed to create a software programdesigned to implement and perform at least one of the methods of thepresent application.

The programs can be structured in an object-orientation using anobject-oriented language including but not limited to JAVA, Smalltalk,C++, etc., and the programs can be structured in aprocedural-orientation using a procedural language including but notlimited to COBOL, C, etc. The software components can communicate in anynumber of ways that are well known to those of ordinary skill in theart, including but not limited to by application of program interfaces(API), interprocess communication techniques, including but not limitedto report procedure call (RPC), common object request brokerarchitecture (CORBA), Component Object Model (COM), DistributedComponent Object Model (DCOM), Distributed System Object Model (DSOM),and Remote Method Invocation (RMI). However, as will be appreciated byone of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the present applicationdisclosure, the teachings of the present application are not limited toa particular programming language or environment.

The above systems, devices, and methods have been described by way ofexample and not by way of limitation with respect to improving accuracy,processor speed, and ease of user interaction, etc. with a navigationdevice 200.

Further, elements and/or features of different example embodiments maybe combined with each other and/or substituted for each other within thescope of this disclosure and appended claims.

Still further, any one of the above-described and other example featuresof the present invention may be embodied in the form of an apparatus,method, system, computer program and computer program product. Forexample, of the aforementioned methods may be embodied in the form of asystem or device, including, but not limited to, any of the structurefor performing the methodology illustrated in the drawings.

Example embodiments being thus described, it will be obvious that thesame may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regardedas a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention, andall such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art areintended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

1. A method, comprising: determining a route of travel, in a navigation device, based upon at least a received destination location; determining whether or not the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road; and prompting a user of the navigation device to either accept the determined route of travel or request an alternate route of travel, upon determining that the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the limited access road includes at least one of a road including at least one lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) and an unpaved road.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prompting a user of the navigation device to enable a warning upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: attempting to determine an alternative route of travel, in a navigation device, upon receipt of an indication that the user requests an alternative route of travel.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: prompting a user of the navigation device to accept the determined route of travel including travel on the limited access road upon failing to determine an alternative route of travel.
 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising: prompting a user of the navigation device to enable a warning upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel.
 7. The method of claim 2, further comprising: attempting to determine an alternative route of travel, in a navigation device, upon receipt of an indication that the user requests an alternative route of travel.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: prompting a user of the navigation device to accept the determined route of travel including travel on the limited access road upon failing to determine an alternative route of travel.
 9. The method of claim 3, further comprising outputting a warning relating to the limited access road upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel and enables the warning, and upon determining, within the navigation device, that at least one parameter governing output of the warning is met.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one parameter includes at least one of a time parameter and a distance parameter.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the outputting includes at least one of a visual and an audible output.
 12. A computer readable medium including program segments for, when executed on a processor of a navigation device, causing the navigation device to implement the method of claim
 1. 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting a warning relating to the limited access road upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel and upon determining, within the navigation device, that at least one parameter governing output of the warning is met.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one parameter includes at least one of a time parameter and a distance parameter.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the outputting includes at least one of a visual and an audible output.
 16. A computer readable medium including program segments for, when executed on a processor of a navigation device, causing the navigation device to implement the method of claim
 2. 17. The method of claim 13, wherein the outputting includes a visual output of at least one of an icon and a message.
 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the warning warns the user of the navigation device that a determined route of travel includes travel on at least one of a road including at least one lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) and an unpaved road.
 19. The method of claim 5, further comprising outputting a warning relating to the limited access road upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel and enables the warning, and upon determining, within the navigation device, that at least one parameter governing output of the warning is met.
 20. A navigation device, comprising: means for determining a route of travel based upon at least a received destination location and for determining whether or not the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road; and means for prompting a user of the navigation device to either accept the determined route of travel or request an alternate route of travel, upon the means for determining that the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road.
 21. The navigation device of claim 20, wherein the limited access road includes at least one of a road including at least one lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) and an unpaved road.
 22. The navigation device of claim 20, wherein the means for prompting is further for prompting a user of the navigation device to enable a warning upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel.
 23. The navigation device of claim 20, wherein the means for determining is further for attempting to determine an alternative route of travel, upon receipt of an indication that the user requests an alternative route of travel.
 24. The navigation device of claim 23, wherein the means for prompting is further for prompting a user of the navigation device to accept the determined route of travel including travel on the limited access road, upon failing to determine an alternative route of travel.
 25. The navigation device of claim 22, further comprising: means for outputting a warning relating to the limited access road upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel and enables the warning and upon the means for determining that at least one parameter governing output of the warning is met.
 26. The navigation device of claim 25, wherein the at least one parameter includes at least one of a time parameter and a distance parameter.
 27. The navigation device of claim 25, wherein the means for outputting provides at least one of a visual and an audible output.
 28. The navigation device of claim 25, wherein the means for outputting provides a visual output of at least one of an icon and a message.
 26. The navigation device of claim 25, wherein the means for outputting provides the warning to warn the user of the navigation device that a determined route of travel includes travel on at least one of a road including at least one lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) and an unpaved road.
 27. The navigation device of claim 20, further comprising: means for outputting a warning relating to the limited access road upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel and upon the means for determining determining that at least one parameter governing output of the warning is met.
 28. The navigation device of claim 27, wherein the means for outputting provides the warning to warn the user of the navigation device that a determined route of travel includes travel on at least one of a road including at least one lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) and an unpaved road.
 29. The navigation device of claim 24, further comprising: means for outputting a warning relating to the limited access road upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel and upon the means for determining that at least one parameter governing output of the warning is met.
 30. A navigation device, comprising: a processor to determine a route of travel based upon at least a received destination location and to determine whether or not the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road; and an integrated input and display device to prompt a user of the navigation device to either accept the determined route of travel or request an alternate route of travel, upon the processor determining that the determined route of travel includes travel on a limited access road.
 31. The navigation device of claim 30, wherein the limited access road includes at least one of a road including at least one lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) and an unpaved road.
 32. The navigation device of claim 30, wherein the integrated input and display device is further useable to prompt a user of the navigation device to enable a warning upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel.
 33. The navigation device of claim 30, wherein the processor is further useable to attempt to determine an alternative route of travel, upon receipt of an indication that the user requests an alternative route of travel.
 34. The navigation device of claim 33, wherein the an integrated input and display device is further useable to prompt a user of the navigation device to accept the determined route of travel including travel on the limited access road, upon failing to determine an alternative route of travel.
 35. The navigation device of claim 32, wherein the an integrated input and display device is further useable to output a warning relating to the limited access road upon receipt of an indication that the user accepts the determined route of travel and enables the warning and upon the processor determining that at least one parameter governing output of the warning is met.
 36. The navigation device of claim 35, wherein the at least one parameter includes at least one of a time parameter and a distance parameter.
 37. The navigation device of claim 35, wherein the integrated input and display device provides a visual output of at least one of an icon and a message.
 38. The navigation device of claim 35, wherein the an integrated input and display device is further useable to provide the warning to warn the user of the navigation device that a determined route of travel includes travel on at least 